Improvement in sewing-machines



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'i 1 k@ f v @y @atten tatrs utrat @fitta Letters Patent No. 78,729, dated Jima 9, 15,568.

IMPROVEMENT IN SEWING-MACHINES.

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TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONOERN:v l

Be it known that I, GEORGE FAIRFIELD, of the city of Hartford, coun'y of Hartford, and State of Connecticut, have Iinvented certain Improvements in Sewing-Machines; and I do hereby declare'that the following, taken in'connection with the drawings which accompany and form part of this'speci-dcation, is a description of my inventiousuiiicent to enable those. skilled in the art to practise it.

' Figure 1 represents in perspective the parts of the machine which are above the bed-plate.

Figure 2 represents a plan view ofI theparts below the bed-plate. 4

Figure 3, a side viewfof the parts belewthe bed-plate.'

Figure 4, a cross-section, showing the devices for operating and graduatingthe movements ofthe feeding-dog Figure 6 represents thefeedi'ng-bar, and the vibrating-arm, which-imparts mot-ion to it.

A is a table or hed-plate;v B, the goose-neck or'supporting-nrm firmly secured thereon, and which, with the box, C, at the forward end thereofand forming partof the same, is east hollow and in a. single piece. D is the mainshaft, located beneath tire bed-plate, and upon which isa driving-pulley, E, ahy-wheel, F, an eccentric, G, for actuating the feed-har or dog, and a. disk, H', for actuating the shuttle; From 'the rear side ofthe fly-wheel a. link, I, connects with a crank, K, through a sleeve, upon the end of which the needle-actuating crank-shaftL is passed', and then secured in proper position by a. set-screw. This shaft, and the sleeve, crank, and link, are

shown'plainly in iig. 2, through the 'circulai-openlng l in tile bottom or the''etilpiate.

Each end of the hollow goose-neck has abearing cast in it for the support of the shaft, which, upon being introduced into the machine, is inserted through a tubular openingformed iu the rear of the arm, and which thus forms the rear bearing, and by reason of my peculiar construction of this arm, and the parte to be encased therein,kthe,shuft can be readily inserted with one hand, whilst the other hand is enabled so to' hold the crank und its sleeve, that the shaft can withfalcility be passed through it, and thus this part of the machine may be put together within an enclosed thbular covering,- or taken apart and removed, without the necessity, as heretofore, of casting suchl covering-arm in two longitudinal sections, requiring afterwards to he screwed together. By these means the enclosed devices are placed absolutely beyond the reach of dust, and cann ot come in Contact .with the person or the clothing, 'and require very rarely any oiling or attention.

'Io the forward end of the shaft L is secured acrank, M, to which is connected a link, N, pivoted to the needle-har the crank M being a-iiixed tothc shaft in such position as to-be carried (after the lowest descent of the needle) beyond a vertical line-or vplane drawn through the axis of the shaft, so as to rise alittle, and thus insure a slight rise of the needle in order to how the loop for the entrance ofthe shuttle, and' then a slight descent to ease its passage through the loop, preparatory toihe rising of the needle to its 'highest point of elevation, in readiness for its Anett descent. Such a motion has been, heretofore, given to needles by various devices, but not, that I am aware of,by this very simple and eiicient means.

Within the arm B and box C are sceurelyhonscfl, and kept safe from exposure and dust, all the operative parts located' above the bed-plate, excepting the tension-roller I and the lower ends of the presser-bar Q and needle-bar, und also the bearings of them all, the parts so enclosed beingas follows, The shaftl and its crank I and link heretofore mentioned, the presscr-bar and its lifting-lever, and adjustable pressure-spring R, the,

needle-bar, and the devices which operate it; the threadcontrollcr,'S, and its bearings, and the oil-passages for conducting oil, (admitted through a single small opening, T, in the top of the box,) to eight bearings of the needle-har, andto the hearings of the thread-controller and lifting-link.

' Th lower bearing of the needle-har is made somewhat broader than the har itself, and the space between them is fitted snugly with a removable pice or gib, U, which allfords asimple and ready means of compensating for wear, and for adjustment of the posit-ien ofthe ncctllc,eithcr by introducing something to tighten the piece, orb'y substituting an nnwern one for it. But, as a bttcr inode than either, I have devised an efficient means for compensation in thc'machine itself, by introducing from tht.` outside of the box a screw, V, whose inner end abuts against the lower end 'of the gib, and'thus permits an instantaneous adjustment to any degree found necessary.

rattling noise, where large numberscf` machines are run, has been found to be so great at times as to make the.

adjacent apartments of a ,building almost untenantable; and it, with all the other en stomfany jai-rings of sewingmachines driven in numbers, and at a high velocity, shakesa building almost as much as yvery heavylnnnchinery. Hence the importance of every improvement, slight though it may appear when alone considered, which contributes towards ne making of a sewingmachine practically noiseless, anld such: a macliine I claim mine to be, its noiselessness being due to tho several improvements in the working parte herein described. This gradual and perfect arresting of such rattling, by a gentle-and almost 'imperceptible incline, costs nothing in power, or in extra machinery or devices, or in money, ahd is absolutely perfect in accomplishing its end. Its simplicity and impossibility of getting out of order, so long as the race itself, of which it is a component part, shall endure, rendcnthis one o ftbat class of inventions which are the ultimatum in simplicity and perfection.

The shuttle-race is `onen 'at itsbottomffor the wholcpdistance the shuttle travels, so that whilst the shuttle is securely supported by the iiat side ofthe vertical plato m, and by the concave bcdoi theraceplatc, the space between these two plates is entirely open to the iloor, as shown at 'n in ig. 2, thus permitting all dust, lint, and metes, which are wont to settle in close-bottomedraceato escape, the motions ofthe shuttle always keeping its track clear. y

The feeding-baro, and thegockinglleverp which actuates it, are like those heretofore patented to me, hut the means which I have invented for` regulating the feed are novel, and are as follows:

q.is a long lever, connected bya swivelmut or nniversaljoint, r, to a thnmb-screw, s, the head of which is above the table, for facility-of access by the operator." I The `turning of this screw raises or lowers the longer and forward end ofthe lever. 0n this forward end, which rides securely in a bracket projecting from the bed-plate, is a plate, t, at right angles to tho lever, and in which is'a. curved slot, to receive a pin, u, upon an adjustable rod or piston, v, connected by a hinge-joint, w, with the arm :vof the eccentric, y, on the main shaft.'A Thcrod v tits snugly in a tubular piece, z, cast in one piece with and at right angles to the rock-shaft al. Through a longi-Y tudin'al slot, b2, in one side of this tubular piece, passes the pin u, which, also, as above stated, enters the slot b2. The mode of adjustment of the feed by these devices is as follows: By turning the feed-regulating screws,

So as to lift the forward end of lthe lever q, the slotted plate'thereon, by nans of the :pin in ,its slot, lifts also the rod or piston v, and so lengthens that arm of the rock-shaft which derivesmotionfrom theeccentric. Now, as the throw of the leccentric is a constant, the-longer the arm it actuatesg'the smaller will be the arc of the circle it describes, and hence the less will be the rocking of thenhaft, andthe consequent movement of thefeed-bar, but by turning the regulating-screw lin the reverse direction, the rock-shaft isturned further on its axis by the cccentric-rod, and the greater isrthe feed. A mofdiiicatio'n ofthis'pla'n would'be to dispense withrthecurvcdlotinplateit, and to form it instead with a curved face, and to use a coiled spring on the rock-shaftllever; the curvedfacc, when moving down, acting like one 'side of the curved slot, andthe coiled spring on the rod returning itbaek, when the curved face moves up.

For the purpose of overcoming the action of the cam on the feed-bar, a leather or rubber washer is inserted in the bearing through whichthe feed-bar slides, at its bacli end, and at which point .it swings on a pivot, the pivot passing through thewasher, and being capable cfbeing'scrcwed up, and so tightening it up., and passing through a slot in said bar.

The upper or spool-thread passes from the spool to and through the tension-device, thence down jin .front of the needle-bar box toan eye atits bottom, thence upwards to theeye on the threadccntroller, then downto an .oyeon the needle-bar, just above the needle, and Vthence to the needle-eye.

'It will be observed, therefore, that it passes through but one cye between the tension-device and threadcontroller.'V Y

1. I claim the combination, with the oil-holcabove the needle-bar, ot the crossing distributing-passages in the top of the needle-bar, whereby all the sides or faces of the bar may be oiled at the same time from a single orico and from the outside of the casing.

2. Also, the combination, with'the oil-grooves in the needle-bar, of the orifice for conducting oil to `the axis or pivot of the threadeconductor, substantially ,as shown'and described,4

. 3. Also, the combination, with the devices last above claimed, of an oil-passage, for lubricating the link i which aotuates the needle-bar.

i 4'.,'lso, thetension-deviec described, the sumeconsi'sting of n. flanged roller, and a rigid curved yoke spanning part of its periphery, andfadjnstoble,aste its pressure, by a spring.`

5. lso,"s a means for varying the feed, the employment ot? 'un adjustable rod,` having a pin or projection thereon, movable within aA slotted sleeve uponfthe'rock-shaft, that impart-s motion to the feed-bar, substantially as shown and described.

6. Also,the combination, with the rever y, sind its plate, of the rod, sleeve, and rock-shaft, substantially as and for the purpose set forth. i .-7.1Also, the spring. R, for imparting adjustable pressure to the presserifoot, when constructed, arranged,

and operating as'described.

8'. Also, a shuttle-race,`nlightly inclined to the lino of traverse of the shuttle-driver, as and for the pu'rpose set forth.

` 9; Also, n shuttle-racennd shuttlcdrivcr racc, cast in one piece, when the same arc m .lines which approach ch het G. A. rAIRrlEnn.- 

